Walkthrough part 9

From the end of the dock, jump out to the right and then along the ledges to cross the water. Continue up the trail and you'll come to a closed door that opens at your approach. Through that and up the trail, you'll come to an area that you should recognize from the opening moments of the game. Cross over the bridge that you find immediately ahead. As you start up the road beyond, you'll trigger another attack.

This fight is naturally tougher than the one you should remember from the game's beginning. You'll have more soldiers to defeat and there also are gunmen on the roof. Take care of the enemies who are close at hand first, then climb to the rooftops to remove any stragglers. There also is a teddy bear in the area that you can slash for health if needed. When you defeat the last of the gunmen, a cutscene will be triggered to advance the story several days.

Okiku has a non-surprising confession to make.

The well is where you'll first learn how to pounce.

After the scene, you should work your way down to the waterfall the same as before. There are no enemies to bother you this time, though. When you reach the waterfall, you'll trigger a cutscene. It's not long before Okiku tells you outright who she is. Following that string of events, you'll appear back at the hut. Exit the building and as you start forward along the path, you'll trigger a scene where an enemy crawls out from the well. The game will now try to school you on the fine art of pouncing, though it doesn't necessarily make things as obvious as you might like. To pounce, you first need to perfectly parry a blow from your enemy. If this maneuver is formed correctly, your opponent will be dazed. You can then press the jump button to perform the pounce. Once you've pounced, you can then press the analog stick in a direction of your choice and press the jump button again to throw your hapless opponent. This is going to be important very soon, which is why the game is telling you how to make use of the ability.

Defeat the enemy that emerged from the well and throw him at the well to stop more from coming. You'll now be presented with your real assignment. Okiku wants you to block several holes throughout the region. Some camera work appears to show you the location of these holes. One is at the base of the waterfall, so head there next.

The third murder of crows is beneath the dead tree.

Drop from the bridge and dispatch of the mechanical soldiers below.

To reach the waterfall, start forward along the path past the well and cross the footbridge. Follow the path through the rock walls and on the other side, you'll see a low-hanging tree branch. As you drop down from there, the camera will pick up and pan along the path that you need to follow. Continue forward, hop across the small platforms over the abyss and when you reach the other side you'll want to continue straight forward toward a scraggly tree branch protruding from the canyon wall to the right. Drop down just below it and you'll startle murder of crows #3 (which you probably couldn't even see ahead of time). Just past where you startle those crows, there's a path that curves left through some rock. You need to head in this direction, rather than following the path that descends straight ahead.

As you proceed along the path leading left, you'll trigger a cutaway scene that depicts gas leaking from a cliff wall. That's nearby. Continue forward and you will start across the bamboo bridge, then drop down to the area below. There are two of the robotic enemies here, as well as a gas leak that you should see along the cliff just to the left. The gray-colored enemies that first arrive on the scene aren't worth your time. Hack them to bits as normal. Once you defeat four of them, an orange-clad fellow should emerge from the space. Him you'll want to throw. Pounce him, then toss him in the direction of the hole from which he emerged. If you executed the move properly, you'll plug that opening and the camera will pan to show you two more destinations: the hole at the base of the waterfall and another one in the nearby village area.

The village lies beyond that gate.

The fourth murder of crows is in the village.

You need to head to the village area first, since that's the tunnel that the game will presently allow you to access. To get there, cross back over the bamboo bridge and climb follow the trails upward, across a suspension bridge and toward the pool of water with the dock extending along it. Jump from there and across the ledges, then follow the trail as it leads toward the gate. As before, the gate will open automatically to allow you access to the village.